Aquariums are typically comprised of a tank which can be filled with water, a system for maintaining the condition of the water (e.g. filter, aeration pump, heater), and ornamental features such as plants, gravel, rocks and curios. The tank may be of any shape such as rectangular tanks or round bowls, and the sides of the tank are typically transparent. The aquarium may also be provided with a lighting system.
Various fish tank lighting systems have been previously shown and described. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,836,765 and 5,089,940 describe lighting systems comprising a cover and a lighting fixture housed in the cover. The cover is configured to rest on the top of an aquarium tank.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,135,613, by Gong et al. (which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety), discloses many different types of transgenic fluorescent fish and various methods of producing such fish. For instance, zebra fish transfected with green fluorescent protein (GFP) genes isolated from a jelly fish (Aqueoria Victoria) are described in detail. In addition, numerous modified mutants of GFP are disclosed, for example, various colors and mammalian optimized mutants are described. Fluorescence is the emission of light resulting from the absorption of excitation light. For example, GFP has a maximum excitation at a wavelength of 395 nm and emits green fluorescence at a wavelength (maximum) of 508 nm. The transgenic ornamental fish described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,135,613 (which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety) are genetically engineered by introducing genes into the fish which express fluorescent proteins. By positioning the fluorescent gene under the control of a specific promoter, the fluorescent protein genes may be used to express the fluorescent proteins in specific tissues, such as in skin tissue, muscle tissue or bone tissue. Gong et al. disclose fish containing numerous different fluorescent proteins, including green fluorescent protein (GFP), enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP), yellow fluorescent protein (YFP), enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (eYFP), blue fluorescent protein (BFP), enhanced blue fluorescent protein (eBFP), cyan fluorescent protein (CFP) and enhanced cyan fluorescent protein (eCFP). There are also various colors of coral fluorescent proteins (available from Clontech, Inc.) which are suitable for creating transgenic ornamental fish. A summary of fluorescent protein genes is available on Table 1.
An aquarium for displaying fluorescent fish is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/627,176, filed Jul. 25, 2003, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
All patents and patent applications referenced in this application are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.